So the Celtics made an unceremonious second round exit from the playoffs. Shown the door by the younger more athletic Heat, a quite healthy team compared to the gaggle of walking wounded, sidelined giants, and decrepit old men the Celtics had become, the Heat overtook a gassed out Celtics team in the waning minutes of Game Five. For the Celtic’s season that was it: “End of Story”.

Now, all over town, people are playing the blame-game, pointing fingers, and replaying their what-if scenarios. You’ve heard that expression about not beating a dead horse? That is exactly what many people are engaging in right now. Thanks, but no thanks. Mama don’t allow no dead horse beatin’ round here.

People are carrying signs that shout “Fire Doc & Danny”. Other signs scream “Blow up the team”. And there are countless other, smaller signs in this sorry demonstration that put forth various trade scenarios carried by the new breed of fan, the GMs in waiting.

But some will say, “It is what it is”, And utter this nonsense with a look of profundity on their face. The most over used cliché to enter the vernacular in a long time, in fact it has become the cliché of cliché’s: “It is what it is” was designed to be the be-all, end-all of any discussion. Yet intelligent people want to know how it got to be what it is and what could have been done differently to achieve a different outcome.

This season’s assemblage of players seemed star-crossed from the very beginning. The Celtics added Shaq and Jermaine O’Neal, and Delonte West as the most prominent additions. But the injuries began to pile up very early on, and it is not my intention to list each and every one, but Delonte went down early, then Jermaine, Marquis Daniels suffered the recurrence of a freak neck injury, and Shaq hardly made it past Christmas. KG missed games as did Rondo and other players.

Doc was forced to play the starters more minutes instead of following his plan to limit the minutes of Rondo and The Big Three. For example, Ray Allen, at 35 years old, ended up with a career high in minutes played. The long minutes of the starters led to fatigue and tired legs down the stretch and into the playoffs. Guts, determination, pride and adrenaline could not overcome the fatigue factor, the tired legs, not to mention the mental fatigue of the grind brought on by playing too many minutes.

What’s a Doc to do? That’s an expression I made up as the season went along, watching those minutes pile up on Ray’s 35 year old legs as he curled around pick after pick, endlessly, game after game, a man in perpetual motion.

Doc didn’t have much choice.

Danny Ainge traded Perk, Semi, Nate, Luke and sold Marquis. This trade appears to have been a season altering moment for the Celtics who had been maintaining a high winning percentage throughout the season up till that point. After Danny’s trade, the Celtics barely maintained a .500 record. That is fact, not opinion.

The players Danny acquired through the trade never seemed to get fully integrated into the team, and they never seemed to earn his trust. Pre-trade, the Celtics were a tight-knit bunch from top to bottom according to reports. Post-trade, nerves began to fray. Given time these problems might have self-corrected or have been corrected by more practice time. But that was not to be.

Jermaine O’Neal missed most of the season and never came back till the playoffs. Shaq never really did come back after early February. Delonte came back but suffered several injury setbacks and didn’t get comfortable with his role till the second round of the playoffs. Rondo dislocated his elbow and developed a bad back. JO’s back began hurting and his wrist was wrapped and giving him constant pain.

Some people point the finger at Danny Ainge and say this is what you can expect from a bunch of older players, but Delonte is not old nor is Rondo nor was Semi, whose development was set back by an injury causing him to miss several weeks.Chalk it up to bad luck and maybe to probability. The probability of an older athlete getting injured might be slightly higher than that of a younger one, but I doubt if the difference is significant, and I’d have to see the data to be convinced.

So for me the Celtics problems this season can be chalked up to bad luck with injuries.

The Celtics didn’t have the healthy horses to compete with younger, healthier teams.Had the Celtics fielded a healthy team with all its members available for service, pre-trade or post-trade, then the Celtics would probably be going to the NBA finals and vying for Title 18.

The remaining Celtic soldiers gave us heart and soul, showing the guts, glory, and determination of Champions, and for that I salute them, but it was just not to be.

- So the Celtics made an unceremonious second round exit from the playoffs. Shown the door by the younger more athletic Heat, a quite healthy team compared to the gaggle of walking wounded, sidelined giants, and decrepit old men the Celtics had become, the Heat overtook a gassed out Celtics team in the waning minutes of Game Five. For the Celtic’s season that was it: “End of Story”. Now, all over town, people are playing the blame-game, pointing fingers, and replaying their what-if scenarios. You’ve heard that expression about not beating a dead horse? That is exactly what many people are engaging in right now. Thanks, but no thanks. Mama don’t allow no dead horse beatin’ round here. People are carrying signs that shout “Fire Doc & Danny”. Other signs scream “Blow up the team”. And there are countless other, smaller signs in this sorry demonstration that put forth various trade scenarios carried by the new breed of fan, the GMs in waiting. But some will say, “It is what it is”, And utter this nonsense with a look of profundity on their face. The most over used cliché to enter the vernacular in a long time, in fact it has become the cliché of cliché’s: “It is what it is” was designed to be the be-all, end-all of any discussion. Yet intelligent people want to know how it got to be what it is and what could have been done differently to achieve a different outcome. This season’s assemblage of players seemed star-crossed from the very beginning. The Celtics added Shaq and Jermaine O’Neal, and Delonte West as the most prominent additions. But the injuries began to pile up very early on, and it is not my intention to list each and every one, but Delonte went down early, then Jermaine, Marquis Daniels suffered the recurrence of a freak neck injury, and Shaq hardly made it past Christmas. KG missed games as did Rondo and other players. Doc was forced to play the starters more minutes instead of following his plan to limit the minutes of Rondo and The Big Three. For example, Ray Allen, at 35 years old, ended up with a career high in minutes played. The long minutes of the starters led to fatigue and tired legs down the stretch and into the playoffs. Guts, determination, pride and adrenaline could not overcome the fatigue factor, the tired legs, not to mention the mental fatigue of the grind brought on by playing too many minutes. What’s a Doc to do? That’s an expression I made up as the season went along, watching those minutes pile up on Ray’s 35 year old legs as he curled around pick after pick, endlessly, game after game, a man in perpetual motion. Doc didn’t have much choice. Danny Ainge traded Perk, Semi, Nate, Luke and sold Marquis. This trade appears to have been a season altering moment for the Celtics who had been maintaining a high winning percentage throughout the season up till that point. After Danny’s trade, the Celtics barely maintained a .500 record. That is fact, not opinion. The players Danny acquired through the trade never seemed to get fully integrated into the team, and they never seemed to earn his trust. Pre-trade, the Celtics were a tight-knit bunch from top to bottom according to reports. Post-trade, nerves began to fray. Given time these problems might have self-corrected or have been corrected by more practice time. But that was not to be. Jermaine O’Neal missed most of the season and never came back till the playoffs. Shaq never really did come back after early February. Delonte came back but suffered several injury setbacks and didn’t get comfortable with his role till the second round of the playoffs. Rondo dislocated his elbow and developed a bad back. JO’s back began hurting and his wrist was wrapped and giving him constant pain. Some people point the finger at Danny Ainge and say this is what you can expect from a bunch of older players, but Delonte is not old nor is Rondo nor was Semi, whose development was set back by an injury causing him to miss several weeks. Chalk it up to bad luck and maybe to probability. The probability of an older athlete getting injured might be slightly higher than that of a younger one, but I doubt if the difference is significant, and I’d have to see the data to be convinced. So for me the Celtics problems this season can be chalked up to bad luck with injuries. The Celtics didn’t have the healthy horses to compete with younger, healthier teams. Had the Celtics fielded a healthy team with all its members available for service, pre-trade or post-trade, then the Celtics would probably be going to the NBA finals and vying for Title 18. The remaining Celtic soldiers gave us heart and soul, showing the guts, glory, and determination of Champions, and for that I salute them, but it was just not to be. http://rajonrondowski.blogspot.com/Posted by RajonRondowski

"It is what it is" is quoting none other than KG. That's KG's line that he made famous when he brought it to Beantown in 2007-8.

In Response to No Dead Horse Beatin’ Round Here : "It is what it is" is quoting none other than KG. That's KG's line that he made famous when he brought it to Beantown in 2007-8. PudPosted by puddinpuddin

a theologian named Joseph Butler who said 'Everything is what it is, and not another thing'. This quote appears in the Fifteen Sermons, If this later resulted in 'everything' being changed to 'it'

the celtics showed alot of heart out there. Their starting point guard had a dislocated elbow and couldnt help much after game 3, but they still managed to force OT in game 4 and led the whole game 5 until LBJ went berzerk on them...they just need to make a few moves and they are right back there next year, we still got one good year left in the KG, ray, PP era if danny can get them re-energized for #18

In Response to Re: No Dead Horse Beatin’ Round Here : a theologian named Joseph Butler who said 'Everything is what it is, and not another thing'. This quote appears in the Fifteen Sermons, If this later resulted in 'everything' being changed to 'it'

Posted by anonymis

-

Thanks for that wonderful tid-bit of information, anonymis. Fascinating. It goes to show that there is nothing new under the sun, at least not that new.

And Tompenny is right, it is Belichik that made it famous around here and in the entire USA bringing it straight into the everyday vernacular of American speech.

Puddle doesn't know what he's talking about, but then we all knew that. I still don't understand the purpose of puddle's post though. Oh, well it probably has something to do with hate, as puddle is a renowned hater and remains the most reviled poster in BDC history.

Too bad about the Celtics injury situation. We could have been champions with a little luck which calls to mind the expression, I'd rather be lucky than good.

the Celtics were damnmed good and in my mind played like Champions right down to the very end. Like Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie at the Alamo fighting to the very end.

After the whining and the should a, could a, would a, most of us took a deep breath and admitted the Heat were better. They were. Hopefully next year they will be OK. We may have some changes but we'll see. Keep the faith Rajon! Go Bruins!

In Response to Re: No Dead Horse Beatin’ Round Here : - Thanks for that wonderful tid-bit of information, anonymis. Fascinating. It goes to show that there is nothing new under the sun, at least not that new. And Tompenny is right, it is Belichik that made it famous around here and in the entire USA bringing it straight into the everyday vernacular of American speech. Puddle doesn't know what he's talking about, but then we all knew that. I still don't understand the purpose of puddle's post though. Oh, well it probably has something to do with hate, as puddle is a renowned hater and remains the most reviled poster in BDC history. Too bad about the Celtics injury situation. We could have been champions with a little luck which calls to mind the expression, I'd rather be lucky than good. the Celtics were damnmed good and in my mind played like Champions right down to the very end. Like Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie at the Alamo fighting to the very end. I'm proud of this Celtic team,very proud.Posted by RajonRondowski

Not to pee on your parade but didn't you chastised Boston fans when they pointed out the glaring weaknesses of the Celtics? You used terms such as "know-nothings" and assured the rest of the world that the C's will show up for the playoffs, even with the injuries and spotty play? Now, you're saying they lost because of injuries and bad luck? What NBA team has ever gone through a season without injuries? Is this the crutch you use every year the Celtics don't win the title? You can take your sanctimonious sermons and shove it.

In Response to Re: No Dead Horse Beatin’ Round Here : Not to pee on your parade but didn't you chastised Boston fans when they pointed out the glaring weaknesses of the Celtics? You used terms such as "know-nothings" and assured the rest of the world that the C's will show up for the playoffs, even with the injuries and spotty play? Now, you're saying they lost because of injuries and bad luck? What NBA team has ever gone through a season without injuries? Is this the crutch you use every year the Celtics don't win the title? You can take your sanctimonious sermons and shove it.

Posted by icnd

-

Thanks for sharing the bitter pill that is your inner life. So much misdirected anger

And may I point out to you that the C's did show up for the playoffs and only succumbed to the store-bought Heat because Thug Wade McDirty dislocated Rondo's elbow on a dirty play, Ray got a bruised sternum by LeBron, JO was nursing a bad back and a painful wrist and Delonte played with a bad shoulder.

The Heat won, period. The beat a crippled Celtic team that they didn't belong in the same gym with if the Celtics had been healthy. And that's' not even bringing Shaq into the equation.

There is an element of luck where injuries are concerned, and the Heat were damnmmed lucky that none of their key players were injured or they wolud have folded up like the Fakers. They would have quit!

The Celtics never quit for one second. The Celtics were a far superior team than the Heat except for the injuries. And, no, it's not a excuse, just the fact of the matter.

As for my sanctimoniousness, well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. You sound like a bitter, jealous man with an inferiority complex. Add that to the fact that you don't make any sense, and well. . . anyway, thanks for sharing.

If it's ok with you I'm going to chalk it up to a horrible series of trade deadline moves that seemed compulsive at the time and look baffling in retrospect.

With our starting five intact we might well have lost to the Heat, but that's what I wanted to see and I'll feel disappointed for years that it didn't happen, especially given how crummy that trade worked out.

In Response to Re: No Dead Horse Beatin’ Round Here : - Thanks for that wonderful tid-bit of information, anonymis. Fascinating. It goes to show that there is nothing new under the sun, at least not that new. And Tompenny is right, it is Belichik that made it famous around here and in the entire USA bringing it straight into the everyday vernacular of American speech. Puddle doesn't know what he's talking about, but then we all knew that. I still don't understand the purpose of puddle's post though. Oh, well it probably has something to do with hate, as puddle is a renowned hater and remains the most reviled poster in BDC history. Too bad about the Celtics injury situation. We could have been champions with a little luck which calls to mind the expression, I'd rather be lucky than good. the Celtics were damnmed good and in my mind played like Champions right down to the very end. Like Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie at the Alamo fighting to the very end. I'm proud of this Celtic team,very proud.Posted by RajonRondowski

Hey Rondowski... still going thru the grieving process? You disappeared on us again. Surprise, surprise!

So I'm reviled for calling you a bedwetter and crybaby during your infamous "Tainted Championship" run last year?

" Chalk it up to bad luck and maybe to probability." If it's ok with you I'm going to chalk it up to a horrible series of trade deadline moves that seemed compulsive at the time and look baffling in retrospect. With our starting five intact we might well have lost to the Heat, but that's what I wanted to see and I'll feel disappointed for years that it didn't happen, especially given how crummy that trade worked out.Posted by BostonTrollSpanker

How can you just announce the trade crummy? Kristic show signs in Game 5 and had played well right after the trade. I think you all are completely wrong about Jeff Green. 6-9 guys that can hit a three and post up? They don't come along all the time. Again, for the 100th time. The trade was obviously about getting younger, more athletic and draft picks. We weren't paying big money to a non athletic, scoring or jumping center. Would you be OK with making Perkins the center piece of our organization? Yes, Danny thought playing all that time without him early in the year made him expendable. Bad luck on Shaq and JO caused our problems. How about this starting five in two years without a trade. Tony Allen, Rondo, BBD, Pierce and Perkins. Followed up by Daniels (?) West, Harangoody and Erden. Wow, talk about non -offensive or offensive any way you would like to look at it. The big three as a force is over. Can they help coming off the bench or playing limited minutes. Yes, they can. Perkins played off of these guys and is not a franchise player and he ain't in OKC. We opened up salary space by eliminating a bunch of these contracts in two years. We weren't winning with that line-up before the trade. I again applaud Danny. We would have went straight to the bottom with it and we would have gotten nothing for Perkins like Allen if he would have stayed the whole year. It's obvious the Celtics front office wasn't paying him.

- So the Celtics made an unceremonious second round exit from the playoffs. Shown the door by the younger more athletic Heat, a quite healthy team compared to the gaggle of walking wounded, sidelined giants, and decrepit old men the Celtics had become, the Heat overtook a gassed out Celtics team in the waning minutes of Game Five. For the Celtic’s season that was it: “End of Story”. Now, all over town, people are playing the blame-game, pointing fingers, and replaying their what-if scenarios. You’ve heard that expression about not beating a dead horse? That is exactly what many people are engaging in right now. Thanks, but no thanks. Mama don’t allow no dead horse beatin’ round here. People are carrying signs that shout “Fire Doc & Danny”. Other signs scream “Blow up the team”. And there are countless other, smaller signs in this sorry demonstration that put forth various trade scenarios carried by the new breed of fan, the GMs in waiting. But some will say, “It is what it is”, And utter this nonsense with a look of profundity on their face. The most over used cliché to enter the vernacular in a long time, in fact it has become the cliché of cliché’s: “It is what it is” was designed to be the be-all, end-all of any discussion. Yet intelligent people want to know how it got to be what it is and what could have been done differently to achieve a different outcome. This season’s assemblage of players seemed star-crossed from the very beginning. The Celtics added Shaq and Jermaine O’Neal, and Delonte West as the most prominent additions. But the injuries began to pile up very early on, and it is not my intention to list each and every one, but Delonte went down early, then Jermaine, Marquis Daniels suffered the recurrence of a freak neck injury, and Shaq hardly made it past Christmas. KG missed games as did Rondo and other players. Doc was forced to play the starters more minutes instead of following his plan to limit the minutes of Rondo and The Big Three. For example, Ray Allen, at 35 years old, ended up with a career high in minutes played. The long minutes of the starters led to fatigue and tired legs down the stretch and into the playoffs. Guts, determination, pride and adrenaline could not overcome the fatigue factor, the tired legs, not to mention the mental fatigue of the grind brought on by playing too many minutes. What’s a Doc to do? That’s an expression I made up as the season went along, watching those minutes pile up on Ray’s 35 year old legs as he curled around pick after pick, endlessly, game after game, a man in perpetual motion. Doc didn’t have much choice. Danny Ainge traded Perk, Semi, Nate, Luke and sold Marquis. This trade appears to have been a season altering moment for the Celtics who had been maintaining a high winning percentage throughout the season up till that point. After Danny’s trade, the Celtics barely maintained a .500 record. That is fact, not opinion. The players Danny acquired through the trade never seemed to get fully integrated into the team, and they never seemed to earn his trust. Pre-trade, the Celtics were a tight-knit bunch from top to bottom according to reports. Post-trade, nerves began to fray. Given time these problems might have self-corrected or have been corrected by more practice time. But that was not to be. Jermaine O’Neal missed most of the season and never came back till the playoffs. Shaq never really did come back after early February. Delonte came back but suffered several injury setbacks and didn’t get comfortable with his role till the second round of the playoffs. Rondo dislocated his elbow and developed a bad back. JO’s back began hurting and his wrist was wrapped and giving him constant pain. Some people point the finger at Danny Ainge and say this is what you can expect from a bunch of older players, but Delonte is not old nor is Rondo nor was Semi, whose development was set back by an injury causing him to miss several weeks. Chalk it up to bad luck and maybe to probability. The probability of an older athlete getting injured might be slightly higher than that of a younger one, but I doubt if the difference is significant, and I’d have to see the data to be convinced. So for me the Celtics problems this season can be chalked up to bad luck with injuries. The Celtics didn’t have the healthy horses to compete with younger, healthier teams. Had the Celtics fielded a healthy team with all its members available for service, pre-trade or post-trade, then the Celtics would probably be going to the NBA finals and vying for Title 18. The remaining Celtic soldiers gave us heart and soul, showing the guts, glory, and determination of Champions, and for that I salute them, but it was just not to be. http://rajonrondowski.blogspot.com/Posted by RajonRondowski

Very well written post that made a lot of sense. Thanks for providing some perspective and telling it like it is, which is basically, It wasnt our year....Perk or no Perk....Only thing that might have saved this team was a Healthy Shaq in the playoffs, and he was far from that.....but I do blame Doc for not integrating Kristic more....and waiting for Shaq to no avail.....it caused psychological damage to our team and the main reason Danny got Kristic is for him to help offensively, which he is very capable of, but Doc was so focused on his shortcomings on defense, he never gave him a chance in the playoffs, and after seeing him play in game 5, it was obvious he should have played more...becaus our defense was just as good in the playoffs, but we needed offensive help that jermain, baby could not give us...

I think the biggest problem this year was Doc and Danny not being on the same page....Danny gave Doc some players he thought would offset our struggling offense and Doc thought defense was more important....

How's this for an indecisive comment ??? I think we would have won # 18 with Perkins but I'm really confident we would have won with a healthy Shaq and JON too before the playoffs. We got to game 7 last year in the finals but then lost, much of the reason being the tremendous disparity in foul shots almost to the point of being egregious, but with Lakers shooting only 32% and us 40%, we were beaten by being out-rebounded. No Sherlock Holmes here but when a team shoots poorly but gets many more extra chances to put up shots, that erases a poor shooting percentage. Many comments about our older players needing to play more minutes because many others were injured. So true this make tired legs. We were one of the best shooting % teams but when the Big 3 need play a lot of defense too it's not easy to make 3s and shoot 50%.

Rebounds…rebounds…rebounds, we were mostly out rebounded after Shaq went down. Reason I say we could have won with Perkins is our rebounding would have been better & our perimeter shooters would have had extra chances when they had off shooting nights. But, with Shaq healthy, he, unlike Perkins, is a prolific scorer under the basket in addition to playing great defense & getting rebounds. With Shaq, we had a sizeable lead for best record in the league & when we lost him we were about 50% the remainder of the year. Would have been nice to have had home court advantage vs. Miami. Maybe LeBron doesn't go crazy & hit some key shots in the end & we win a couple of those close games we were leading. In the Miami series we were out rebounded in every game except the one we won.

OK, I'm rambling & truly beating a dead horse. We need draft some biggies or willing to give up BBD, Rondo too perhaps & a draft choice and get Howard. With Howard, I believe our BIG 3 can go another year playing 1/2 minutes. West and Green will fit in nicely having played more together. JON too, healthy, could return & help us. Draft too another young PG if we loose Rondo to get Howard. Another possibility is to trade Rondo even up for Chris Paul…this too, indirectly, helps our rebounding as big benefit is he can shoot and will be guarded from the perimeter while Rondo was left free to shoot which allowed opponents to have another defender under the basket for rebounds--- and then need would be to rely on a drafted young center.

I agree with the above post...a healthy Shaq might have saved us !!! How's this for an indecisive comment ??? I think we would have won # 18 with Perkins but I'm really confident we would have won with a healthy Shaq and JON too before the playoffs. We got to game 7 last year in the finals but then lost, much of the reason being the tremendous disparity in foul shots almost to the point of being egregious, but with Lakers shooting only 32% and us 40%, we were beaten by being out-rebounded. No Sherlock Holmes here but when a team shoots poorly but gets many more extra chances to put up shots, that erases a poor shooting percentage. Many comments about our older players needing to play more minutes because many others were injured. So true this make tired legs. We were one of the best shooting % teams but when the Big 3 need play a lot of defense too it's not easy to make 3s and shoot 50%. Rebounds…rebounds…rebounds, we were mostly out rebounded after Shaq went down. Reason I say we could have won with Perkins is our rebounding would have been better & our perimeter shooters would have had extra chances when they had off shooting nights. But, with Shaq healthy, he, unlike Perkins, is a prolific scorer under the basket in addition to playing great defense & getting rebounds. With Shaq, we had a sizeable lead for best record in the league & when we lost him we were about 50% the remainder of the year. Would have been nice to have had home court advantage vs. Miami. Maybe LeBron doesn't go crazy & hit some key shots in the end & we win a couple of those close games we were leading. In the Miami series we were out rebounded in every game except the one we won. OK, I'm rambling & truly beating a dead horse. We need draft some biggies or willing to give up BBD, Rondo too perhaps & a draft choice and get Howard. With Howard, I believe our BIG 3 can go another year playing 1/2 minutes. West and Green will fit in nicely having played more together. JON too, healthy, could return & help us. Draft too another young PG if we loose Rondo to get Howard. Another possibility is to trade Rondo even up for Chris Paul…this too, indirectly, helps our rebounding as big benefit is he can shoot and will be guarded from the perimeter while Rondo was left free to shoot which allowed opponents to have another defender under the basket for rebounds--- and then need would be to rely on a drafted young center. Posted by mandobello

For the 5 millionth time why on earth would Howard sign a long term contract to get one year with the BIG 3 and then have a bunch of rejects for the remainder of his contract.

In Response to No Dead Horse Beatin’ Round Here: "Now, all over town, people are playing the blame-game, pointing fingers, and replaying their what-if scenarios. You’ve heard that expression about not beating a dead horse? That is exactly what many people are engaging in right now. Thanks, but no thanks. Mama don’t allow no dead horse beatin’ round here."

Then he goes on to beat the horse...and beat it...and beat it. I mean that's a lot of horse beating for somebody that doesn't beat horses.

In Response to Re: No Dead Horse Beatin’ Round Here : For the 5 millionth time why on earth would Howard sign a long term contract to get one year with the BIG 3 and then have a bunch of rejects for the remainder of his contract.Posted by TheDUDDER

In Response to Re: No Dead Horse Beatin’ Round Here : BIG 3 RETIRE after our #18 next year !!! And with Howard & maybe only with West & Green from this current team, we build with draft choices. The plum to tell Howard if he wants proven stars around him is that Memphis, Chicago & Oklahoma are all young player teams while LA, Spurs & US have proven that age catches up.Posted by mandobello

So Howard should wait around while bad draft decisions are made?

Players like Howard will make the absolute maximum amount available no matter what team they play for.... so when push comes to shove.... they want to win rings. There are none to be had here. Howard is out of his mind if even contemplates coming here.

Where is OKC if they have Howard instead of Perk right now?

Where is Memphis if they have Howard instead of Gasol right now? Playing game 1 against Dallas tonight.

Is the trend for the young stars to go where there veterans that are overpaid and just about done? Or are they colluding to compile as many superstars as possible on any given team?

- So the Celtics made an unceremonious second round exit from the playoffs. Shown the door by the younger more athletic Heat, a quite healthy team compared to the gaggle of walking wounded, sidelined giants, and decrepit old men the Celtics had become, the Heat overtook a gassed out Celtics team in the waning minutes of Game Five. For the Celtic’s season that was it: “End of Story”. Now, all over town, people are playing the blame-game, pointing fingers, and replaying their what-if scenarios. You’ve heard that expression about not beating a dead horse? That is exactly what many people are engaging in right now. Thanks, but no thanks. Mama don’t allow no dead horse beatin’ round here. People are carrying signs that shout “Fire Doc & Danny”. Other signs scream “Blow up the team”. And there are countless other, smaller signs in this sorry demonstration that put forth various trade scenarios carried by the new breed of fan, the GMs in waiting. But some will say, “It is what it is”, And utter this nonsense with a look of profundity on their face. The most over used cliché to enter the vernacular in a long time, in fact it has become the cliché of cliché’s: “It is what it is” was designed to be the be-all, end-all of any discussion. Yet intelligent people want to know how it got to be what it is and what could have been done differently to achieve a different outcome. This season’s assemblage of players seemed star-crossed from the very beginning. The Celtics added Shaq and Jermaine O’Neal, and Delonte West as the most prominent additions. But the injuries began to pile up very early on, and it is not my intention to list each and every one, but Delonte went down early, then Jermaine, Marquis Daniels suffered the recurrence of a freak neck injury, and Shaq hardly made it past Christmas. KG missed games as did Rondo and other players. Doc was forced to play the starters more minutes instead of following his plan to limit the minutes of Rondo and The Big Three. For example, Ray Allen, at 35 years old, ended up with a career high in minutes played. The long minutes of the starters led to fatigue and tired legs down the stretch and into the playoffs. Guts, determination, pride and adrenaline could not overcome the fatigue factor, the tired legs, not to mention the mental fatigue of the grind brought on by playing too many minutes. What’s a Doc to do? That’s an expression I made up as the season went along, watching those minutes pile up on Ray’s 35 year old legs as he curled around pick after pick, endlessly, game after game, a man in perpetual motion. Doc didn’t have much choice. Danny Ainge traded Perk, Semi, Nate, Luke and sold Marquis. This trade appears to have been a season altering moment for the Celtics who had been maintaining a high winning percentage throughout the season up till that point. After Danny’s trade, the Celtics barely maintained a .500 record. That is fact, not opinion. The players Danny acquired through the trade never seemed to get fully integrated into the team, and they never seemed to earn his trust. Pre-trade, the Celtics were a tight-knit bunch from top to bottom according to reports. Post-trade, nerves began to fray. Given time these problems might have self-corrected or have been corrected by more practice time. But that was not to be. Jermaine O’Neal missed most of the season and never came back till the playoffs. Shaq never really did come back after early February. Delonte came back but suffered several injury setbacks and didn’t get comfortable with his role till the second round of the playoffs. Rondo dislocated his elbow and developed a bad back. JO’s back began hurting and his wrist was wrapped and giving him constant pain. Some people point the finger at Danny Ainge and say this is what you can expect from a bunch of older players, but Delonte is not old nor is Rondo nor was Semi, whose development was set back by an injury causing him to miss several weeks. Chalk it up to bad luck and maybe to probability. The probability of an older athlete getting injured might be slightly higher than that of a younger one, but I doubt if the difference is significant, and I’d have to see the data to be convinced. So for me the Celtics problems this season can be chalked up to bad luck with injuries. The Celtics didn’t have the healthy horses to compete with younger, healthier teams. Had the Celtics fielded a healthy team with all its members available for service, pre-trade or post-trade, then the Celtics would probably be going to the NBA finals and vying for Title 18. The remaining Celtic soldiers gave us heart and soul, showing the guts, glory, and determination of Champions, and for that I salute them, but it was just not to be. http://rajonrondowski.blogspot.com/Posted by RajonRondowski

In my opinion, Ski has contradicted the saying that "wisdom comes with age" as it is felt by many that as you experience more of life, you gain wisdom. But, wisdom too can come at an early age as too old age can come without wisdom. I recall in my working career an older person bragging that they had 20-30 years experience doing something but in terms of being diversly valuable to a company, they simply had 1 year experience 20 or 30 times !!! As a spetuagenarian, I can tell you too that with age comes Dementia & Alzheimer's.

I always feel Ski wears his heart on his sleeve, pulls no punches and tells it like it is according to his analysis, of course, and I find him extremely insightful, interesting & knowledgeable regardless of his professed young age. Most important, he is a dedicated Celtic fan !!!

I am going to chalk it up to a trade that was too disruptive of team chemistry. Perkins was not the factor on court. Bringing in five new guys at the end of FEb. was insanity. With all that injuries just did us in. If we can get a couple of guys to take minutes from the big three and avoid key injuries we will certainly be a good team and a playoff force next year. Garnett was injured the last two games and that cooked us with all the other factors.Posted by concord27

What was Garnett's injury the last 2 games? I haven't heard this story. Source, link, or reference?